"I can't go on...I'll go on."

" Where I am, I don't know, I'll never know, in the silence you don't know, you must go on,  I can't go on, I'll go on. You're on earth. There's no cure for that."

 Samuel Beckett "The Unnamable" 1959

Samuel Beckett was an Irish author, most famous perhaps,  for his play "Waiting for Godot", and for his quote above. 

According to everyone's favorite source (Wikipedia): "Broadly speaking, the play deals with the subject of despair and the will to survive in spite of that despair, in the face of an uncomprehending and incomprehensible world." 

And per Chris Power in a 2016 article in The Guardian: "Beckett came to believe failure was an essential part of any artist's work, even as it remained their responsibility to try to succeed. His best known expressions of this philosophy appear at the end of his novel "The Unnamable"-- "you must go on, I can't go on, I'll go on, " and in the 1983 story "Worstward Ho" -- "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." 

I have not read much of his work, but these quotes and their analysis speak to me right now in the midst of this pandemic and our response to it.  The video below also speaks to me:

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMRV82KUF/

(search @drglaucomflecken on tiktok for his top liked september 2020 video). He's on youtube too.

Be safe. Be smart. Be kind.

Peace out,

Sheila

Suggested reading: anything that makes you take someone else's point of view, just read.

Playlist "I can't go on, I'll go on" public on spotify, search smknerr.

 link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/28eQXRgVEacQQ26bI1qgbM?si=WKQuwN1uRParntLJhmKzAQ&dl_branch=1